Cunning Grace
by MeredyxD
Summary: Iron Fist Tournament 5, when it's Lili and Sergei's first time at the tournament. They both have their own reasons for joining, but what will happen once their paths cross?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

"Don't you know that I love you?" whispered Lili as she seductively pressed her lips against Sergei's neck. Sergei stayed silent, as usual, which left the question unanswered...

* * *

Their relationship had started the second day of the Iron Fist Tournament. Sergei had noticed the blonde haired, graceful yet cunning girl before he stepped into his match. Then again, he had been spying on all of his rivals before the start of the tournament (old habits died hard), so it wasn't anything special about Lili or anything. Yet the girl was somehow different from all the other competitors in the tournament. She wasn't as strong as the Williams sisters, nor as flexible as Christie; but she had that glint in her eyes. The pleasure to defeat, the need to win. Sergei could tell just by looking at her that this was a girl that would do anything to get her way...

Lili was 16 when she decided to enter the Iron Fist Tournament for the sake of her father. Her father was a wealthy businessman, and he encountered many problems concerning enemies that wanted to claim his position as that. The main source of his problems was no other than Mishima Zaibatsu, the host of the Iron Fist Tournament Lili had decided to enter. She was determined to win the tournament and show Mishima just what you got when you messed with a Rochefort; and she wasn't going to le get in her way.

Sergei Dragunov was a Russian soldier who was an expert in spying, shooting and killing. He had no mercy on his preys; they called him the "White Angel of Death". When he entered the tournament, he started gathering information about all of his rivals; about how you had to avoid Julia's kicks, and block Ganryu's punches. He learned which moves to use with which opponent; and created a battle strategy in his mind for every competitor. He was going to eliminate every competitor from the tournament until none were left...

On the first day Lili had gone up against Hwoarang. He was a strong fighter, and Lili had seemed impressed by his skills; up until the moment she won the match. Hwoarang laid on the ground after being hit with one of Lili's famous high kicks, and he had no strength left in his body to get up and fight back. "Pathetic." Lili said, without even turning to look at Hwoarang. The girl was an admirer of power. It didn't take good looks, money or charm to impress the Rochefort girl. In order to allure her, one had to have strength and power, power which exceeded her skills. She would never be willing to date someone weaker than her; where would the challenge be in that?

Sergei had single-handedly taken out Xiaoyu in his first match; and Lili, who had been in the audience, was thoroughly impressed by the silent yet deadly Russian's ferocity. She licked her lips and mumbled his name to herself : "Hmm.. Dragunov."

That afternoon, after all the matches had been fought and the winners were determined, Lili searched for Sergei in the training center. She found him in the corner of the room, pretending to practice on a dummy while he observed the others' moves. Lili approached him and moved her face to just an inch away from his'. "Hey, soldier." she purred. "Saw you in your match today. You almost broke poor Xiaoyu's neck in the ring.". She snickered. "If you can't take a little pain, then you shouldn't enter the tournament in the first place; isn't that right honey?" she said, putting her arm on Sergei's shoulder. Sergei, repulsed by the gesture, took the arm and twisted it, removing it from contact with his upper body. "Ow!" Lili exclaimed seductively, and stepped on Sergei's foot. Startled, Sergei dropped her arm, and Lili was quick to pull it away from him. "Whenever you need a partner to practice with, just call me up sweetie. I'll be up in my room." Lili said suggestively, quickly turning around and leaving the training center in rapid yet sexy steps.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: "беспощадный" translates into "ruthless". (If wrong correct me please! ^.^)

**CHAPTER 2**

The next day Sergei woke up with the first rays of sunlight. Then again he hadn't slept, he never really slept, not ever since the day...

He just liked to be conscious and aware of all potential threats. He lied awake, pretending to sleep but keeping one eye slightly open, looking out for any kind of danger. Back in Russia, back at home, you had to be conscious to stay alive. Be foolish enough to ignore your surroundings and you were dead. He knew that. He had killed many people who were foolish...

Lili had also gotten up early, eager to wake up and have a day of fighting. She would tell herself that she was doing this fighting thing for her dad, only her dad; but that wasn't the truth. She was bloodthirsty, and she knew it. She liked to get into fights, beat her opponents; desired to look into their defeated eyes. The whole world was divided into two categories for the girl; "Ones that are stronger" and "Ones that are weaker". It took a lot of tricks, a lot of blood, a lot of sweat to determine which people fit into which category. _But she never got tired of it..._

Dragunov was rarely tired, despite his lack of sleep. After he got up he walked to the training center, taking note of every detail he saw along the way. When he arrived, he saw Lili and another girl, Asuka, fighting each other vigorously. Kicks and punches were flying around (Kicks being Lili's and punches being Asuka's strenght. Noted.), and constant swearing and screaming was heard. Asuka pulled Lili's hair, shoving her to the ground and putting her foot on top of her stomach. Lili quickly grabbed her foot and threw Asuka off herself, making her land face-down on the ground. Then she got off the floor by doing a backflip(She was vey bendy. Noted. ... ...Wait, why was this noted?), landing on Asuka's back and making her scream in pain. "You give up?" Lili asked her. "Never!" the girl yelled and tried to get up, but Lili pressed her body down with her heel. She held her arms and twisted them, asking "Still not giving up?". Asuka managed to get a"no" out of her lips, but her body was starting to give up. Lili twisted her arms even more. She then let them go and grasped her hair, pulled her head back and smashed it to the floor. "Give up?" she asked, and when Asuka remained silent she smashed her head again, this time more violently, and asked her, "GIVE UP?!". "Yes!" Asuka cried, wanting but unable to hold her head in her hands. "Good" Lili said and smiled; then snickered as she let go of Asuka's head.

"беспощадный" Sergei said, letting himself smile just a little to show his admiration for the girl's cruelty. Lili approached the man in confident steps and put one hand on his shoulder. He didn't swat it away this time, letting her touch him. She put her other hand on his cheek; delicately brushed it and whispered, "Thank you.". Then she turned around and left, so quick that her fingernails left a scratch mark on his cheek. Sergei waited for a moment after she left the room, shook his head and grinned to himself; then exited the room without even looking at the knocked out girl on the floor...


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

It had been a few hours since his encounter with Lili; and Sergei had already stepped into and won his match with Wulong. It had not been easy, but in the end Sergei had trapped Wulong's body with his legs and locked his arms around his neck, choking the air out of him. Wulong had started to cough, and Sergei pulled his neck back. A "Krr-rrtt" sound escaped from Wulong's neck, and Sergei let go. The crowd gasped, especially Lili, who was watching Sergei with excitement and delight. With one final kick, Sergei knocked Wulong to the ground. He had won his second match, ascending among his competitors.

Meanwhile Lili had been thinking about her upcoming match. She hadn't gone up against her opponent yet, but she was... nervous. Not because she was afraid of losing the match, but because she was afraid of letting her dad down. If she won the tournament, the news would spread like wildfire: "Emilie de Rochefort, daughter of the wealthy Monacan oil magnate wins Iron Fist Tournament 5! ". It wouldn't be much time until the news would reach her father's ear, and he would be extremely disappointed with her. Her father was a man of peace, he despised fighting; and he would never want his only, precious daughter to be involved in any kind of violent activity.

Then again, if she lost the tournament, she would be a laughstock amongst the viewers of the Iron Fist Tournament, and she could never let her family name ring with the sound of mockery. That was worse than her father getting upset with her, and for the sake of her family's prestige, she was determined to win this tournament. Still, it was hard to shake away the feelings of disappointing her dad, but Lili was pretty good at hiding her emotions. After she watched Sergei's and only Sergei's match, she spent the rest of the day practicing in the training center, punching a dummy to let the nervous thoughts escape from her mind.

She stepped into the ring, looked Bryan straight into the eyes and let her first punch swing. And then another. And another and another and soon she was punching Bryan the way she punched the dummy in the training center, blindly, letting her thoughts leave her mind with every hit. And with every punch, every kick, Lili realized that she loved doing this. Fighting. Winning. Getting your own way. She loved her father, but he was wrong about peace and violence. Actions spoke louder than words, and kicks and torture hurt more than spoken threats. All her doubts disappeared and she knew what to do now. **She was going to win this tournament, at all costs.**

She decided to go to her room and stay inside for the rest of the day, it would help her calm down and get all her thoughts and feelings together. As she was walking towards her room, she passed the other competitors' rooms. No one seemed to be here, the rooms and the hallway were completely silent.

When she turned around the corner, she saw Sergei going inside his room. When he heard her walking, he glanced at her, shook his head disapprovingly, and entered his room. Lili, flustered by this gesture, approached Sergei's room and started banging on the door. He calmly opened the door, staring up at Lili as if expecting an answer. "What's wrong?" Lili asked, angrily. "You don't like me? You weren't impressed by my fighting? Was I not good enough for you?" she asked, half mocking-half angrily, concealing her hurt. "Ты колебался" Sergei answered, unemotionally. "Speak to me in a language I can understand!" Lili demanded, even angrier. "You hesitated." Sergei said quietly. "What?" Lili asked, all her anger suddenly turning into confusion.

"What do you mean? When?".

"Before. Before the match." Sergei answered as quietly as possible for Lili to hear.

"I.. I did." Lili said, letting her vulnerability show just for a second.

"But what's it to you?!" she yelled, accusing him, and also blaming him for letting her weakness show. Sergei did not answer. It was as if talking.. hurt him. Each word seemed to be a struggle to get out. Lili pressured him no more, and left the speaking all to herself. "I.. I did. I was afraid of.. letting down those who are close to me. I do not want to be a disgrace in their eyes. ". She stopped talking for a second, surprised at herself for revealing so much of herself to an opponent, then went on. "But I have made up my mind now. I am going to keep on fighting. No more hesitating for me. I came here to win, and I'm a winner." she said, proudly and mercilessly. Sergei smiled at this, and Lili gave out a tiny laugh. "I guess I'll be laughing like this again after I beat everyone, including you in this tournament and be crowned the winner." she said smugly.

He put his hand on her cheek, looked her in the eyes and opened his mouth to whisper something, then stopped; turned around and entered his room, closing the door behind him. Lili stood for a minute, surprised and confused, unsure of her next move. This was one of the only times in her life when she was left completely speechless. Except for the day where... But no, this wasn't like that! This was different. Her mind and her pride were unsure how to act, what to say, what to do; so she let her heart take control for once. She knocked on the door; and when Sergei opened it she took his face in her hands and kissed him. When she let go no words were exchanged, yet the atmosphere did not feel tense or awkward. Then she said "Good night." as she confidently turned around and walked to her room without once glancing back.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, both competitors were ready for their upcoming matches. This was the 3rd day of the Iron Fist Tournament, and some people were beginning to be eliminated. Asuka, the girl Lili beat up on her 2nd day was among the eliminated group. Lili smirked at this information when she heard it; and Sergei, who had been there at that moment, grinned to himself, realizing that he was slowly being captivated by the alluring girl's ambition and cruelty.

Now that there were only half the competitors left in the tournament, the hosts of the tournament decided to spice things up. "Doubles Tournament!" they announced. Rule change. Sergei hated rule changes. It reminded him of the fact that there was always a tricky side to everything in life. \

Competitors were to be matched up randomly. They would fight in doubles against each other, and the team that lost twice would be eliminated. "Just a cheap trick to make the tournament last a little longer." Lili thought to herself. The only major difference to her was the rule that if either one of the competitors in a pair was knocked out, the team would automatically lose. This meant that, even if you were an amazing fighter, if you were teamed up with someone weak you would easily lose the tournament. Lili would not have any of this. She wasn't going to lose just because she was matched with a weakling. Unfortunately, she knew she had no say in the rules of the tournament -which frustrated her, because she was a girl that was used to always getting her way-, so all she coud do was pray to be teamed up with a strong fighter. Sergei would be okay, for instance.

The names were drawn. The pairs were "Anna Williams and Jin Kazama", "Nina Williams and Devil Jin", "Julia Chang and Lee Chaolan", "Sergei Dragunov and Raven", "Steve Fox and Bryan Fury", "Christie Monteiro and Eddy Gordo", "Kazuya Mishima and Kuma II" and "Lili Rochefort and Hwoarang". "HWOARANG!?" Lili yelled when she heard who she had been matched with. "They team me with Hwoarang?!".

Lili was angry. When Hwoarang approached her, she did not say a word. He tried to break the ice, but Lili was determined to keep the cold atmosphere between them. She glanced at Sergei. He didn't seem to be doing any better. Raven and he looked distant, but.. still somewhat in sync. She and Hwoarang looked hopeless. Lili gave out a sigh. Hwoarang stopped walking to face Lili and said, "Hey.". "Look, I know you're not happy with being matched with me, but like it or not, we're partners. So we have to start training together and make a battle strategy. We can't accomplish any of that with you sulking and sighing.". "Hwoarang, look." Lili replied, trying to be patient but failing at it. "You are not my teammate. We are not going to be training, we are not going to be planning strategies together. While fighting, just swing a punch or two, and get out of my way while I'm doing my thing. Oh and, try not to get hit.".

Hwoarang replied, irritated, "And you think that'll be enough to win?".

"Why not?" the girl asked.

"Look at all the other teams." he answered. "Look at the way they communicate with each other. Lili, some of the teams are very close friends, or at least they have known each other for a long time. They know each others' fighting techniques, they know how to fight together. They know how to be a team. Aside from the fact that you got lucky and beat me, I know nothing about you or your fighting style. That's a major disadvantage.". "I got lucky?!" the girl asked. "I beat you because you were **WEAK**, not because i was **_LUCKY_**!" she yelled. Sergei and a few others looked at the enraged girl, her face flushed red; and Hwoarang who noticed all the stares, quickly grabbed her arm and ran out of the room.

"I was kidding." Hwoarang said, when they finally got out of earshot. "Look, I'm sorry. But right now, we need to put our differences aside. And you need to accept the fact that I am a strong fighter. I have entered this tournament many more times than you have, I know a thing or two about your competitors. You might not trust my physical strength -which you should, by the way-, but at least trust my experience and knowledge.

"Fine." Lili said, giving in. She had no other choice, for she knew things couldn't get any more hopeless for her...


	5. Chapter 5

"So.. Teammates." Raven said, unemotionally. Sergei responded with a cold look. "I think we stand a chance, don't you think?" Raven said. This time, Sergei responded with a grunt. Raven stayed silent as well, and they parted their ways. They did not have to make any motion, exhange any words to indicate that the conversation was over. They knew each other well enough to know what the other meant by just one sound or facial expression...

* * *

"So, teams that have history." Hwoarang began. He had made a list of all the teams and was studying them over with Lili. "Eddie and Christie. Watch out for them. Eddie taught Christie almost all the moves she knows, so they know each others' fighting techniques very well. They're also close friends, which means they'll be excellent in working as a team.". He wrote the word "Teamwork" next to the team's name. "Lee and Julia. Best of friends. Worked at G Corporation together, have history, know each other very well. Might be dangerous.". He wrote "Teamwork + threat" next to their names. "Those two are the ones who will be excellent at being syncronized with each other and moving together the best." Hwoarang said, and got ready to explain the relationships between the other teams and the members. "What about Dragunov and Raven?" Lili asked, interrupting Hwoarang.

"What about them?" Hwoarang asked back.

"They seemed to have some history. The way they stood together and all.. Don't you think so?" she said.

"I.. I don't know." Hwoarang replied. "I mean, there are similarities between them, but I've never really known whether there's a history between them or not.".

"I'll go investigate that." Lili said, and before Hwoarang could say anything, she left the room... 

An hour later, she was in Dragunov's room, standing with her arms on her hips. Sergei was not surprised to have the girl visit him, he knew she would do anything to get whatever it was she wanted, but still it was not something he was used to. All his life people have avoided him. He was dangerous, he was a murderer, he was "The White Angel of Death"; and anyone in their right mind would avoid to approach him. "You and Raven?" Lili asked, moving one step closer to him. Sergei looked up at her but did not say a word. "You know him, don't you? You knew him before the tournament?" Lili asked. Sergei did not say a word again but looked at Lili, then gave a nod. "It was obvious." Lili shrugged her shoulders, secretly proud of figuring out something about the mysterious Russian's past. Sergei gave out a chuckle, then motioned for Lili to come closer. Lili, surprised by his gesture, took a few steps towards him. "What have you got in mind?" she asked suggestively, stopping in her steps and looking at the man sitting in front of her. Sergei grinned at her, then got up and moved towards her. He put one hand on her shoulder, then pulled her closer to himself, and kissed her on the lips. Lili Rochefort. He had never met such a girl like her before. Sweet yet deadly, ferocious, merciless, proud, confident yet not blinded by hubris, cunning and sneaky. He was surprised at how similar she could have been to him, if they had shared a similar past. Lili kissed the corner of Sergei's mouth, then moved down, down to his neck. She gave out a tiny moan, then moved her body even closer to his'. Sergei started moving his hands on Lili's back, taking pleasure from touching her body. "Mmm" she sighed, and kissed him hard. Sergei moved his hands up, and untied her red foulard. Lili winked at him, then started kissing his neck again while fumbling with his suit's buttons. He moved his hands over her blouse and started unbuttoning it, revealing her chest and her bra. Lili wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her boobs against his now bare chest, and kissed him on the fingernail mark she had left on his cheek the previous day. He moved his hands down, down to her hips, and removed her skirt. She grinned, wrapped one leg around his body and steered him in the direction of his bed. She pushed him on the bed then climbed the bed herself, stood over on top of Dragunov and grinned at him. "Ready?" she asked him. He nodded.


End file.
